MARKET UPDATE- APRIL 2019

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says decreased demand is making the supply of homes for sale to accumulate across the Metro Vancouver housing market.

Total home sales in the residential sector for April 2019 totalled 1,829, representing a 29.1% decrease from sales recorded in April 2018 with 2,579 homes sold. Sales however increased 5.9 % over last month.

Ashley Smith, REBGV president states, “government policy continues to hinder home sale activity. The federal government’s mortgage stress test has reduced buyers’ purchasing power by about 20 per cent, which is causing people at the entry-level side of the market to struggle to secure financing.”

MLS or Multiple Listing Service recorded 5,742 newly listed homes comprising of the detached, apartment, and attached residences. This reflects an increase of 16% compared to homes listed in March 2019 and an 1.3% decrease in comparison to the 4,949 newly listed homes in April 2018.

MLS current listings are 14,357 or 46.2% higher than April 2018, whereby listings totalled 9,822. In comparison to March 2019 MLS recorded an increase of 12.4%, with 12,744 homes listed the previous month.

“There are more homes for sale in our market today than we’ve seen since October 2014. This trend is more about reduced demand than increased supply,” Smith said. “The number of new listings coming on the market each month are consistent with our long-term averages. It’s the reduced sales activity that’s allowing listings to accumulate.”

The sales to activity ratio in April 2019 was 9.4% for detached, 15.4% for attached (townhouse) and 15.3% for condos. Overall, across all property types, the sales to activity listing ratio were 12.7%.

Analysts are saying that downward pressure on home prices occurs when the ratio dips below 12% for a sustained period, while home prices often experience upward pressure when it surpasses 20% over several months.

Metro Vancouver benchmark price for all residential homes currently sits at $1,008,400 as indicated by the MLS Home Price Index composite. That is an 8.5% decrease over April of 2018 and a 0.3% drop compared to March 2019.

April 2019 saw detached housing decrease 24.7% (586) from April 2018 (807). Currently, the detached home benchmark sits at $1,425,200 an 11.1% decrease from April 2018 stats and 0.8% drop compared to March 2019.

The benchmark price for apartments is currently $656,900. This represents a 6.9% decrease from April 2018 and is unchanged in relation to March 2019.

Lastly, Townhomes or attached homes, sales totals for March were 358 showing a 22.8% decrease over April 2018 where 464 sales were recorded. The attached home benchmark price currently sits at $783,300 a 7.5% decrease in comparison to April 2018 and is unchanged in relation to March 2019.

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